ADDIS ABABA, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Ethiopia signed a peace deal
on Tuesday to end 20 years of war with a rebel faction that has
comprised the main threat to foreign oil and gas firms in the
disputed Ogaden region, both sides said.

Abay Tsehaye, national security adviser to Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi, welcomed the signing of the deal as something that
would strengthen unity in the Horn of Africa country.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Malaysian state oil company
Petronas has asked Ethiopia to approve an agreed deal to sell
all its oil and gas concessions in the country to a locally
owned firm, a senior government official said on Monday.

SouthWest Energy (H.K.) Ltd, an Ethiopian-owned company
registered in Hong Kong, said in a statement it had agreed to
buy all of Petronas’s [PETR.UL] interests in the Horn of Africa
nation, where rebels threaten the exploration activities of
foreign firms.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia released the country’s most prominent opposition leader from jail on Wednesday, four months after the government’s landslide win in elections criticised by Western powers.

Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge, is the leader of Ethiopia’s biggest opposition party, Unity for Democracy and Justice.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi is expected to appoint new ministers this week after being sworn in as Prime Minister by parliament Monday four months after a disputed landslide election win.

The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and allies won 545 seats in the 547-member parliament on May 23 in a vote that was criticized by the United States and the European Union.

DANAKIL, Ethiopia (Reuters Life!) – I turn to my girlfriend, barely able to see her through the sweat that stings my eyes. “I know how this sounds,” I say. “But is my head still the same size?”

The evening before, we had arrived at a remote, nomad settlement, one hour from Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression — the hottest place on the planet with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius).

DANAKIL, Ethiopia (Reuters Life!) – I turn to my girlfriend, barely able to see her through the sweat that stings my eyes. “I know how this sounds,” I say. “But is my head still the same size?”

The evening before, we had arrived at a remote, nomad settlement, one hour from Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression — the hottest place on the planet with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius).

Eritrea’s arms seem to have been folded in a sulk for a long time now. The Red Sea state has, for some, taken on the black sheep role in the Horn of Africa family. But President Isaias Afewerki is looking eager to get off the naughty step.

His opponents say he was put there for good reason. Eritrea became increasingly isolated in the region after a 1998 – 2000 border war with neighbouring – and much bigger – Ethiopia.

ADDIS ABABA, Sept 6 (Reuters) – An Ethiopian rebel group on
Monday warned foreign oil and gas firms to stay out of the
country and rejected government claims that the disputed Ogaden
region was now safe for exploration companies.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), which is
fighting for the mainly ethnic-Somali Ogaden’s independence, was
responding to the country’s mines and energy minister, Alemayehu
Tegenu, who last week said the area was secure. [ID:nLDE6811W8]

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – More than a quarter of a million Ethiopians are risk from severe flooding next month when heavy rain is expected in the country, according to government estimates issued by the United Nations on Monday.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 19 people were killed in mudslides after flooding last week and nearly 12,000 people had been displaced since then.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi seemed to anticipate this week exactly what a lot people were thinking about his government’s plan to double the poor country’s GDP and wean it off food aid within just five years.

“I think that this is a very ambitious plan,” he said.

“This is indeed an extremely ambitious plan,” a few minutes later.

And, once more for luck, “We have put in place a high-case scenario which is clearly very, very ambitious.”

About Barry

"Irish journalist who has lived in the Horn and east Africa since 2006 - first in Ethiopia, then in Uganda - covering politics, elections, society, culture and economics across the region. I have also worked for Reuters in Tunisia, Iraq and Libya and was part of the team that dominated coverage of Muammar Gaddafi's killing. Always welcome a good chat over on Twitter: @malonebarry"